Boeing Just Bought More Than 1,000 Acres In South Carolina

Boeing Co has signed a deal allowing it to buy
nearly 1,100 acres of land at the site of its 787 jet factory in
South Carolina, a deal that gives it room to expand production.

The acquisition gives Boeing the option to buy the land its
factory currently sits on, and the deal could eventually allow
Boeing to quadruple its footprint in the area, its first
commercial airplane manufacturing site outside of Washington
state.

However, some of the land is swamp that Boeing would need to fill
in to develop, officials said. Also, one section contains a radar
installation for the Charleston airport that Boeing would need to
move to develop that land. Boeing also has not yet obtained a
firm price for the purchase.

Boeing said it is not looking to expand in the near future. The
purchase "makes sense to protect any future growth plans the
company may have," a spokesman said. He declined to comment on
the difficulty in developing the land because there are no such
plans.

The agreement signed Wednesday would provide Boeing about 320
acres next to its factory and grants the Chicago-based company
the option to buy 750 more acres in several parcels adjacent to
and including the 260 acres that its 787 Dreamliner final
assembly plant sits on, said Chip Limehouse, chairman of the
Charleston County Aviation Authority, which oversees the local
airport.

The sale of the first parcel will close later this year,
Limehouse said. If Boeing exercises its buy option, it will
acquire just under 1,100 acres. Boeing's current campus is owned
by the aviation authority, which runs Charleston International
Airport, and is leased by Boeing for $1 a year, he said.

The aviation authority said it has been told Boeing will exercise
its option to buy the land its current campus and plant sits on
in 2025 when the incentives that the state gave to Boeing when it
came to South Carolina run out.

Boeing's $1-a-year lease on the property runs out in 2021, said
Becky Beaman, aviation authority spokeswoman, but there is a
four-year extension option built into the lease that Boeing will
take.

The value of the additional land, which is also owned by the
aviation authority, is yet to be determined, Limehouse said. He
said the land is probably worth about $18 million to $20 million.

The price is "a good question," Limehouse said. "Some of it's
very low and it's very expensive to fill. Most of it is wooded
and a lot of it is low. Part of it has a radar system (for the
airport) on it that they will have to get FAA permission to move
and it could be expensive."

South Carolina has strict wetlands protection laws, but,
Limehouse said the wetlands on Boeing's new land are interior
wetlands that do not flow into any river "and those are easier to
permit for fill."

The aviation authority and Boeing have been working on the land
sale for 2 1/2 years, he said, as the sides first agreed on the
parcels and then the matter required board approval.

Boeing's plans for the land were not immediately clear. Limehouse
said the company had indicated plans to use the property, but
that it had not shared any details.

"When we ask them what their plans are for the property, they
always tell us 'We're not buying it to land-bank' and 'We build
airplanes,'" Limehouse said.

But the purchase was hailed as a further sign of growing
aerospace investment in the region.

"This is great news. It means Boeing is healthy and will
certainly have more jobs for the future," Limehouse said. "We see
the airport as an economic development engine."